Origin

The words sherbet and sorbet (late 16th century) are essentially the same, and are closely related to syrup (Late Middle English) and shrub (mid 18th century), a drink made with sweetened fruit juice and rum or brandy. All go back to a group of words centring on Arabic sariba ‘to drink’. The sharp-tasting powdered sweet sherbet was originally used to make a fizzy drink, from the 1850s.